Drop in HERMs Coil....

I have just finished a new brewstand. I'm building a keezer, and converting my current kegerator into a fermentation chamber. I'm hoping the fermentation chamber will help my brewing massively. But, that gets me to thinking of my next project.... Has anyone made a drop in HERMs coil? I kind of thought it could sit in my boil kettle full of water at the right temp, and pump wort through it to the MLT. Allowing me to maintain temps on my mash, and even step mash. Just wondering if anyone can lead me to some educational material on similar builds. I just wonder how to make one, what materials are necessary, etc... Thanks for the help.

could you not use one of those SS chillers with cam locks? That sounds cheaper then a rims tube, but the temp control is what you have to figure out,could end up being a pita to control.

My 2-vessel eHERMS has the coil mounted under the lid of the BK. It's the HERMS coil during the mash, and the IC after the boil. The coil itself can't be removed, but the lid is lifted off during the boil and set aside until I need it as the chiller.

I dimpled/soldered 2 full 1/2" couplers in the lid and hung the coil with compression fittings. I braided the coil with small stainless wire to keep in from springing up and down, and to give it tiny even gaps for flow. Works better than I ever could have imagined.

GotPushrods said:

My 2-vessel eHERMS has the coil mounted under the lid of the BK. It's the HERMS coil during the mash, and the IC after the boil. The coil itself can't be removed, but the lid is lifted off during the boil and set aside until I need it as the chiller.

I dimpled/soldered 2 full 1/2" couplers in the lid and hung the coil with compression fittings. I braided the coil with small stainless wire to keep in from springing up and down, and to give it tiny even gaps for flow. Works better than I ever could have imagined.

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Got a pic of your setup?

BreezyBrew said:

Got a pic of your setup?

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I have a ton, although I never did post a build thread. I suppose this mut might be of interest to someone. Here are a few pics....

This is really slick..Like the lid idea for the HERMS!
Nice build!

Sweet build! Thanks for sharing.

Thats alot like what I want to build. To bad I can't use the copper chiller I have. I'll have to start looking for some SS tubing to work with. Thanks for the pics, that really helps.

nastee_brew said:

Thats alot like what I want to build. To bad I can't use the copper chiller I have. I'll have to start looking for some SS tubing to work with. Thanks for the pics, that really helps.

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My pleasure. After researching building a bender myself, I ended up buying the coil from StainlessBrewing. I originally thought I'd source some SS and coil it, but for the price you can go buy a custom bend, it's a no brainer. Stainless tube is not easy to work with.

The key to this was getting the flat lids for the Concord kettles. They also have a wavy domed design which would have been a nightmare. I requested the flat lids and they were a breeze to work with.

I have a 50' long, 1/2" diameter copper coil that I use as a removable HERMS coil and immersion chiller. The coil has camlocks on input and output for HERMS. When I want to use it as a chiller, I attach a couple of "female camlock to garden hose" fittings I made and put the coil in the boil kettle. Works great.

douglasbarbin said:

I have a 50' long, 1/2" diameter copper coil that I use as a removable HERMS coil and immersion chiller. The coil has camlocks on input and output for HERMS. When I want to use it as a chiller, I attach a couple of "female camlock to garden hose" fittings I made and put the coil in the boil kettle. Works great.

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I do this as well. Although its not used much as an IC anymore since I have a plate chiller now. It just permanantly 'sits' in the HLT. Its pretty ugly and I cant set a lid on top and expect any type of seal, but it gets the job done. Someday I'll take the HLT back out of commission so I can mount the exchanger permanently.

I love GotPushrods setup, and if I were starting over again thats exactly what I would do. Just curious, why wouldnt copper work? You could get push/flare fittings that would fit.

For temp control, add an elbow at the outlet side of the heat exchanger so you can add a temp probe 'inline'. Important part is you want it on the output side. I would also recommend looking into a ball valve on the lid so you can control flow rate and seal that side up when you're moving it. Not necessary but would be an added feature.

kpr121 said:

I love GotPushrods setup, and if I were starting over again thats exactly what I would do. Just curious, why wouldnt copper work? You could get push/flare fittings that would fit.

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Thanks... designing and building are almost as fun as the brewing and drinking! You could use copper, but it's more maintenance in the long run. And with the price of a pre-fab stainless coil now, no brainer. I think it was a little over 100 bucks, it practically cleans itself, and it will last forever.

kpr121 said:

For temp control, add an elbow at the outlet side of the heat exchanger so you can add a temp probe 'inline'. Important part is you want it on the output side. I would also recommend looking into a ball valve on the lid so you can control flow rate and seal that side up when you're moving it. Not necessary but would be an added feature.

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I read for many hours on the debate about where to put temp probes in a system like this. In the end, you can simplify life a LOT and only monitor the HLT/BK. With a 50' coil, the exiting temp will always match the HLT. It's just a matter of time for the entire mash to catch up, which isn't far behind. I only have the thermos on the lid for fun - to watch the temps when ramping the mash and during chilling. The panel is also MUCH simpler than other behemoths you see a lot. 1 PID, 1 timer, 1 SSR, 1 heating element, 1 temp probe, etc. The only tradeoff with this system is efficiency, but at 70-74% I couldn't care less. The simplification of the entire system was well worth the time savings every brew day.

And regarding the 'sealing up' when moving... fun thing happened that I wasn't expecting. When I open the drain under the pumps to empty the lines before moving them, the HERMs coil actually siphons itself empty!

GotPushrods said:

I have a ton, although I never did post a build thread. I suppose this might be of interest to someone. Here are a few pics....

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Well YEAH, that might be of interest to quite a few people, actually.

Damnit. I wish I had thought of that.

Would the copper cause off flavors? I have about a 50 foot drop in chiller now. I could easily modify it to work as a herms. I guess if I can drop it in wort to chill it, I should be able to run wort through it to use it as a herms coil. Just be sure to really rinse it out. Let me know what you guys think.

That leads to be a big question. What is a better peice of brewery hardware to have: a drop in HERMs coil, or use it to make a counter flow chiller.

Now I'm ready wondering what to do with my copper coil.

Lots of people use copper for HERMS coils

nastee_brew said:

Thats alot like what I want to build. To bad I can't use the copper chiller I have. I'll have to start looking for some SS tubing to work with. Thanks for the pics, that really helps.

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Why not? I flared the ends of mine and put on 1/2" females. I'm mounting it this weekend because I just finished a 50' (well really about 40') CFC so my immersion chiller has been repurposed into a nice HERMS system.

nastee_brew said:

Would the copper cause off flavors? I have about a 50 foot drop in chiller now. I could easily modify it to work as a herms. I guess if I can drop it in wort to chill it, I should be able to run wort through it to use it as a herms coil. Just be sure to really rinse it out. Let me know what you guys think.

That leads to be a big question. What is a better peice of brewery hardware to have: a drop in HERMs coil, or use it to make a counter flow chiller.

Now I'm ready wondering what to do with my copper coil.

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Considering many commercial beers like Stella have been brewed in copper kettles for hundreds of years I would have to say no, as long as you kept it clean. The key here is stainless is more forgiving since its wont turn black and grow nasties like the copper coils do so its more forgivving for a lazy brewer I guess and it looks better for most.
I removed all of the copper but the brazing found in my plate chiller when I went with stainless on everything but even newer brass fittings are lead free and safe to use.
some cool pics of one of the abandon stella breweries...

http://opacity.us/gallery134_pure_inebriation.htm